There’s going to be an actual baseball game played tonight at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, and I suppose there’s more than a few of us who may still actually care about it. If nothing else, it will purportedly be played to a conclusion, unlike the travesty that transpired 22 Julys ago.
But at a time of diminishing and aging appeal and an overall watering down of who qualifies for this–essentially the sixty-something healthiest guys who’ve had a decent three months and/or happen to fit a strategic need to win an otherwise meaningless game (we’re looking straight at you, Matt Strahm), the most curious storyline will be in the form of someone who just about a year ago was making MLB news in the other event of consequence not involving players in uniform.
The starting pitcher for the National League will be a young man who last year was dazzling the college world with his talents enough to be drafted first and foremost among all amateurs, and who is now frustrating the very people who preceded him who he may be facing tonight. Per NOLA.com’s Koki Riley:
Riley Greene had a plan against Paul Skenes.
The Detroit Tigers All-Star outfielder wanted to attack the high fastball. That way it would be easier for him to drive the ball into the air and fend off Skenes’ splinker — a deadly splitter/sinker pitch that is most effective in the bottom half of the strike zone.
“That was my goal (but) it didn’t work very well,” Greene said.
Greene went 0 for 3 against Skenes on May 29. He struck out in his first at-bat before grounding into a fielder’s choice and grounding out again in his third plate appearance.
“I’d say he’s pretty much one of one from what I’ve seen,” Greene said. “I haven’t seen anyone really close to him.”
Greene isn’t the only MLB All-Star whose had trouble hitting Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates star rookie and 2023 LSU baseball national champion.
The 13 All-Stars who have faced Skenes this year are a combined 8 for 38 with one home run and two doubles against Skenes. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft has struck that group out a combined 12 times. Skenes, who will start on the mound in Tuesday’s MLB All-Star Game for the National League (7 p.m., FOX), has a 1.90 ERA in 66⅓ innings while striking out 89 batters in 11 starts.
So I for one was paying attention to what began Sunday night outside Globe Life and will wind up its three-day marathon in relative obscurity this afternoon: this year’s draft. Because you just don’t know where the next transformational All-Star may be coming from, or just how close he may be to being someone you need to know and care about.
It could be Skenes’ counterpart in this year’s draft, whom MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo described thusly:
Guardians: Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State
The Guardians kept things very close to the vest until the very last minute, looking at a number of college players, especially the top hitters. Bazzana was always high on that list, and for good reason. The left-handed-hitting Australian infielder was a Golden Spikes Award finalist after he hit .407/.568/.911 with 28 homers and 16 steals in his junior year with the Beavers. His penchant for contact fits the Guardians’ hitting philosophy and he has plenty of thump that should get to Cleveland quickly.
Or it could be this surprisingly high pick, again per Mayo :
Nationals: Seaver King, SS, Wake Forest This gives Wake Forest its third player in the top 10. King showed his tools could translate from Division II to the ACC this year after transferring from Wingate, using his compact right-handed swing to make a ton of contact, and he might be more hit over power. He can really run and play multiple positions, with a chance to stay in the infield, but the outfield perhaps is a better fit.
Looks like Wake Forest is to the MLB Draft what France was to the NBA’s? And how someone with THIS name didn’t wind up selected by the Mets is beyond me.
It could even be one of the top Day 2 picks that Mayo’s colleague Sam Dykstra reported on this morning:
Royals: Drew Beam, RHP, Tennessee
Beam led the College World Series champions with 102 1/3 innings pitched and made a pair of starts in Omaha for the Vols on their way to the title. His four-pitch mix is considered fairly average across the board, although his changeup earns 55 grades on the 20-80 scouting scale, but his impressive control should give him a strong chance to start in the Kansas City system.
And even if they don’t show up in next year’s tilt in Hotlanta, they may very well be on a major league roster and making an impact by then–enough to matter to me. I still haven’t forgiven Wyatt Langford’s cycle, the first of any major leaguer this season, for taking place in a Sunday night clash last month that produced an impossible comeback for my fantasy opponent despite a 32-point lead on my part going into the last game of the week.
His former Florida Gator teammate Jac Caglianone was drafted sixth on Sunday by Kansas City, another young team on the rise that might have room for someone of his talents by next spring. If indeed he makes it, guess who I’m drafting? You know what they say. Once bitten, twice shy.
Courage…